Veteran is the crime action comedy that will depict the story between second-generation chaebol Jo Tae Oh and the regional investigation unit after him. Yoo Ah In plays as selfish and supercilious drug addict Jo Tae Oh in the film. Thanks to the strong background of a conglomerate family and his faithful helpers, he is able to shuffle away with his lazy smile.

Here are some videos from the press screening~

Veteran Press Screening [English subs]

Let’s find out the stories that Yoo Ah In and Director Ryu Seung Wan shared about their work in the interview below~

“I was really nervous throughout the showing. I still feel kind of dizzy,” he started talking. To this, Hwang Jung Min teased him, “Dizzy? What did you eat earlier?” Teehee! Yoo Ah In replied, “Aw~ I can’t speak now. I’m too happy.” 🙂

Yoo Ah In has showed a memorable performance in the film by inhabiting his role completely. To the question asking about his relatively impressive performance for his age, he replied, “The power of the crazy little face. Just kidding! (laughed).”

He continued, “Well, I just try to be myself. In the film, I tried not to be too mad or intense because that would be too typical. A frosty smile, sarcastic tone and the boiling anger are the right things to build a perfect image for Jo Tae Oh. But I think my acting is still over the top, so I do a lot of reflection.”

He then talked about playing a bad guy role for the first time, “I had never been that nervous standing in front of the camera and acting since my début ten years ago. I was trembling a little while filming Veteran.”

Yoo Ah In had to act rude to women, such as throwing food to actress Yoo In Young, and insulting both Yoo In Young and Park Sodam. “I told Yoo In Young noona I was really sorry for doing so, but she said ‘you don’t need to be sorry. Just focus on your acting’. I feel really grateful.”

Yoo Ah In played as marginal people most of the time in his past works. When asked the difference between his past characters from Jo Tae Oh, he replied, “It is my first time speaking profanity, smoking tobacco, and wearing a formal suit. Usually I biked, drove motorcycle and local cars, but this is the first time I drive a luxurious foreign car (laughed).”

It was also Yoo Ah In’s idea to wear the formal suit during his martial art practice.

Yoo Ah In shot Veteran and Secret Love Affair simultaneously. Asked whether it was difficult playing 2 contradicted characters at the same time, he replied, “At first I thought it would be difficult to go back and forth from one character to another which stood in two different poles, but the two works came in handy as I needed reference point of each other.”

He continued, “I think that Secret Love Affair is the best work during my ten years of acting career, but I’m very anticipating Veteran and Sado, and I hope everything goes well.”

Director Ryu Seung Wan revealed that Yoo Ah In high intensity action scenes in Veteran has caused a ligament rupture on his shoulder.

“I have experienced this too in the past and I know it’s very painful to even raise a hand. Even raising an arm would be very hard. But Yoo Ah In didn’t want us to worry, so he didn’t tell the staff about it and kept hiding his injury till we finished shooting. This is my first time working with a young star, and I’m very satisfied,” he praised the actor’s fighting spirit.

Asked whether Jo Tae Oh is a fictitious character or a real person, director Ryu Seung Wan took a cautious stance. “What you watch [in a film] is not a reality (laughed). However, it would be a lie if I said that I was not influenced by a certain figure. It’s the sense of anger and loss that I feel. There should be a reason why there’s such a villain. There are monstrous people like Jo Tae Oh out there. It is more important to be concerned about the system which produces such ‘Jo Tae Oh’ monsters, rather than one particular individual. People like Jo Tae Oh could grow up in a middle class where the system protects and turns them to a strange monster.”

To the question asking about his reason for casting Yoo Ah In as Jo Tae Oh, director Ryu replied, “Jo Tae Oh’s malicious and bitter character caused a lot of troubles to actors who wanted to join the casting. If the actors have too many things to consider as a ‘hallyu star’ actor -such as international activities, images, or advertising- it would be very difficult to cast them for this role.”

“Accidentally, I watched Tough As Iron (Kangchuli) in Busan International Film Festival in 2013 and met Yoo Ah In who attended the event. I was so sure that Yoo Ah In would not throw a glance at my proposal,” he laughed. However, surprisingly Yoo Ah In showed an interest.

“Usually, actors will ask their agency to send them the script from directors, but Yoo Ah In came to me and said, ‘I would like to see it faster’, and told me to send the script to his personal email. I was like, ‘what kind of situation is this?’ and I sent it as soon as possible with nervous mind,” he laughed.

Director Ryu continued, “As a matter of fact, in the casting stage, directors prepare several versions of script, because actors will tell us their ‘afterthoughts’ and ask for some adjustments, especially if the role is a bad guy. But Yoo Ah In sent feedback immediately after reading the script. What was more surprising is that his proposal accurately identified Jo Tae Oh’s character, which exactly the same as our first idea on it. Yoo Ah In called me and the first word that he said was ‘Jo Tae Oh is not that bad a guy’. He showed his willingness actively. I can’t thank enough (laughed)”.

As he’s about to reach 30 years old (born in October 1986), Yoo Ah In replied to the question asking about his image, “I know some people will say ‘he’s not attractive anymore’. But I’m not a handsome guy to begin with. So, I’m not worry about image. I like the fact that I don’t care about my image, but I do notice what people think about it. I heard people say that if we take a bad guy role, CF will run away. But I don’t think about it at all. I think we should separate between our real self and acting strictly.”

When asked about the future character in a drama or movie that he is eyeing up, Yoo Ah In praised ZE:A‘s Park Hyung Sik acting in the series High Society.

“Yesterday when I turned on the TV, I saw SBS drama High Society,” he said, “I watched for a while and I think it’s a very interesting work. Our junior friends [Sung Joon and Park Hyung Sik]’ acting was surprised me. Especially the character Changsu, he is so wonderful that I thought why I didn’t get this role when I was younger. I think Park Hyung Sik nails the character.”

Asked about how he took care of his appearance when he is on the verge of 30, Yoo Ah In replied that there was not much different in terms of skin care, “Actually I take a good care of my skin, but it was hard to get rid of my acne only by using acne mask (laughed). I don’t like going to a dermatologist, so I just do the skincare at home.”

Yoo Ah In admitted regretting a little about his skin complexion when he shot Veteran. “When I played in KBS drama Sungkyunkwan Scandal, I tanned my skin a few times for my character (Moon Jae Shin), and it never recovered ever since. I think I should have tried making my skin look a bit paler for Veteran, because rich people tend to have fair skin.”

Yoo Ah In last words on this event, “Today was my first time watching the whole completed film. Like I said, I was nervous, but also very flattered and happy. It was grateful to be part of such a wonderful film. It was such a good time and I was able to learn so much from director and my seniors through this film. I would like to thank director Ryu and the senior actors for delivering the good spirit so well, and I hope a lot of people are happy to see this movie together. Thank you.”

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